THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, March 26, 1996 TAG: 9603260433
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Larry Bonko
LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines
As Mira Sorvino accepted the Oscar for best performance by an actress in a supporting role midway during Monday night's 68th Academy Awards, her father, actor Paul Sorvino, cried a river as he witnessed the moment.
``With this award, you honor my father,'' said Sorvino, who impressed Oscar voters mightily by her performance in Woody Allen's ``Mighty Aphrodite.''
For good luck, she wore her great-grandmother's ring to the ceremony.
Earlier in the Oscar telecast seen on ABC, when Kevin Spacey won for best performance by an actor in a supporting role for playing a con man in ``The Usual Suspects,'' he thanked his mother for driving him to acting lessons when he was a kid.
Isn't it nice that these two actors remembered Mom and Pop on their night of nights?
Spacey also had a thank-you for Keyser Soze, the shadowy figure whose name was part of every twist and turn in ``The Usual Suspects.''
It was Whoopi Goldberg's turn to return as host of the Oscar telecast after David Letterman last year proved inadequate - a TV wise guy in a hostile crowd among the Hollywood elite.
From the start of Monday night's telecast, it was apparent that the audience attending the ceremonies at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles were more comfortable with Goldberg.
She was received warmly.
And her opening monologue was better than Letterman's. It started off smashingly when Goldberg, in a black Donna Karan gown, said she wasn't going to spoil her outfit by wearing a ribbon of any kind.
However, she did acknowledge all those who sent her ribbons to wear - the red ribbon for AIDS awareness, the purple ribbon from those fighting to defeat breast cancer, the green ribbon to remember the Chinese dissidents, the yellow ribbon as a salute to our troops in Bosnia. Even a ribbon made out of plaid as a tribute to Mel Gibson, who starred in and directed ``Braveheart,'' the story of 13th-century Scottish hero William Wallace.
``Enough with the ribbons,'' she said. ``It's done.''
And it was done. Except of Robin Williams, who wore a red AIDS awareness ribbon, and a few others who showed up on camera as presenters or Oscar winners, hardly a lapel or chest ribbon was in sight.
When the Academy gave out an Oscar to Chuck Jones in recognition of his 64 years as a director of Warner Brothers cartoons, Williams couldn't resist slinging an arrow at Sen. Bob Dole, who will be the Republicans' candidate for president in the fall.
Dole could use a little of Jones' animation, suggested Williams.
As Oscar telecasts go, this one produced for the first time by Quincy Jones was no better or worse than others in recent years. There was less glamour than usual, with Jones electing to concentrate on the nuts and bolts of moviemaking, from makeup to sound effects to live and computer animation.
In that vein, there was a cute little segment by the Woody and Buzz Lightyear characters from ``Toy Story.''
Every time the telecast got rolling, it was stopped dead by the musical numbers.
Why can't the nominated songs be wrapped up in a neat five-minute segment?
It took a full six minutes for Jones' telecast to pick up steam. He elected to start at 9 p.m. with tape of talk-show host Oprah Winfrey interviewing the Beautiful People as they sauntered up to the pavilion on a carpet of red.
It was a long six minutes.
Best-dressed presenter? My vote goes to Sandra Bullock, who looked smashing in a long brown gown and diamond choker. by CNB